The subject matter herein relates generally to connectors for holding electrical conductors and/or optical fibers, and more particularly, to connectors having housings constructed from multiple components.
Connectors provide interfaces between electrical and/or optical components where power and/or signals may be transmitted therebetween. Typically, a connector has an outer housing that surrounds a passage that retains one or more contact modules. The contact modules may provide a mechanism for retaining conduits such as, but not limited to, electrical conductors or optical fibers. The outer housing provides mechanical properties for means of connection and/or mounting, environmental protection and/or electrical shielding or grounding for the conductors or optical fibers. In addition to the passage, the connector may have other internal features or components that are confined within the housing and not accessible during ordinary usage of the connector. However, the internal features or components may be difficult to manufacture and/or may be inaccessible when the connector is constructed as a single component.
In one conventional connector, the housing is constructed from two half shells that are secured or joined together. The shells form a passage that extends therebetween and that is configured for holding one or more contact modules that are inserted into a completed shell housing. Each half shell includes an alignment feature that aligns with a corresponding alignment feature from the other half shell. This alignment feature may provide a means of attachment so that the half shells may be permanently fastened together. Although the conventional connector allows access to internal features of the housing before the connector is constructed, once the half shells are permanently riveted together, access to the internal features may be limited.
Accordingly, there is a need for connectors having a housing constructed from multiple shells where the shells may be removably coupled to each other. Furthermore, there is a need for connectors where the housing may be disassembled after construction to allow access to internal features of the housing. There is also a need for alternative connectors constructed from shells and for alternative mechanisms and methods for coupling the shells together.